Service Learning Coordinator

Presidents Honor Roll

Iowa Western Community College Named To Presidential Honor Roll For Community Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored Iowa Western Community
College recently with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service
Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities.

“We are extremely proud that our students and faculty have received this recognition,”
said Iowa Western President Dr. Dan Kinney. “Our faculty and professional staff have
taken a leadership role to provide opportunities for our students to be involved in
community volunteer efforts and civic engagement. We hope that this spirit of giving
will become a part of our students’ lives permanently and will be reflected in those
career paths they choose in the future.”

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition
a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.
Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including
scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service
activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic
service-learning courses.

During 2008, Iowa Western Community College placed more than 800 students in various
service roles throughout the community. Through the Service-Learning department,
students are strategically matched with agencies where they learn through volunteer
service, which in turn benefits the community. Iowa Western partners with more than
100 different community agencies in the metro area on a regular basis.

“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students
represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest
challenges,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation
for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute Iowa
Western Community College for making community service a campus priority, and thank
the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service
to others.”

Overall, the Corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition,
83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll
members. In total, 635 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department
of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's
Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President’s Higher Education Community
Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council
on Education.

“I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President’s
Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. College and university students across
the country are making a difference in the lives of others every day – as are the
institutions that encourage their students to serve others,” said American Council
on Education President Molly Corbett Broad.

Recent studies have underlined the importance of service-learning and volunteering
to college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million
hours of volunteer service, according to the Corporation’s Volunteering in America
2007 study. Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger initiative
to spur higher levels of volunteering by America’s college students. The Corporation
is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations,
and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves
lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering.
The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America,
a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education
and community-based organizations. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.